Erotic hotel's guests oblivious to G20 summit stress

Reuters Staff

3 Min Read

LOS CABOS, Mexico, June 19 (Reuters) - Just a few hundreds yards from where global powers worked around the clock this week to ease Europe’s debt crisis and revive the world economy, the customers at one hotel were oblivious to the stress and letting it all hang out.

The adults-only Desire Resort and Spa combined business and pleasure as usual, even as leaders from the world’s biggest economies took over Mexico’s Los Cabos beach resort, troops patrolled the streets and beaches and Navy vessels sat just off the coast.

Desire bills itself as a “deliciously erotic” hotel where clothing is optional and guests are encouraged to indulge their fantasies with their partners or other like-minded couples.

Rather than worry about the troop presence or the heightened tension - and snarled traffic - that come from sharing their vacation resort with world leaders, Desire’s guests were said to be delighted by the extra security.

“They feel more secure because they can go out onto the street and they feel more protected,” said Jhaxiri, a 19-year-old receptionist at the hotel.

Desire stands hundreds of yards from the main press center at the G20 summit and just a stone’s throw from where negotiators drew up a communique that lays out ambitious plans to accelerate the move toward banking and fiscal union in Europe.

While U.S. President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other world leaders were locked in tense discussions on everything from the violence in Syria to trade policies, Desire’s guests were letting loose.

“The first night here they get comfortable. The second night, they start to meet couples and by the third or fourth night they start taking their clothes off in the pool. ... They’re already more than acclimatized,” said Jhaxiri.

Although a handful of unsuspecting journalists made reservations at Desire in order to cover the G20 summit, it was off limits for delegates and security personnel as the hotel only allows couples to stay there.

A dozen U.S. Secret Service agents deployed as part of Obama’s security detail were caught cavorting with prostitutes before a summit meeting in Colombia in April, embarrassing the U.S. government and marring the agency’s reputation. (Reporting by Jean Luis Arce Editing by Kieran Murray and Todd Eastham)